Mulberry Malady

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.The mulberry has been dropping leaves, some have yellowed and the ends of twigs have withered, while the fruit is much smaller than that on other trees in the neighbourhood, so Ive been in contact with the estimable Stephen Read of specialist fruit growers, Reads Nursery in Norfolk. It seems the tree is stressed our dry sandy soil is not to its liking and I have compounded the problem by planting it on the edge of the terraced lawn. Stephens advice was to immediately go outside and turn the hose on and forget it for a few hours as initial first aid treatment. We are on a water meter so I couldnt quite bring myself to give it more than an hours soaking, but it has now had a good drink. He also recommend spraying it with liquid seaweed which I will do tomorrow and then give it a really deep mulch of well-rotted manure over the winter. Poor tree, no wonder it has struggled it transpires that my neighbours mulberry is planted close to a spring so it has all the water it needs hence the monster fruit.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.